The case for a new Apache/Google "Java"

I believe it is high-time that Apache and Google created a new, Java-like programming language, platform and VM which can easily accomodate the ports of the Java base libraries, all of the Apache developed Java libraries/applications and the typical, popular open-source libraries like Hibernate.

Java should start off on the same road as LibreOffice under a different name.

The new "Java" language should be sufficiently close to Java that a one-to-one source converter tool can be written for trivial porting of Java libraries. Apache Harmony is a good basis for this but Snoracle patents will have to be worked around.

The platform should be completely modular and compatible with the packaging systems of Linuxes (apt/yum) and other repository based packaging systems, so that self-containing application packaging can be avoided (this is the case now with most Java applications).

While the language should be backward-compatible with Java, it should incorporate most of the new language advancements of .Net, Python and Ruby. Of course only those which don't kill basic Java language features like strong-typing.

The new "Java" platform should have an Apache-led, democratic governing body. Similar to the JCP but without veto rights for anyone.

When the platform matures to 1.0 (if Google backs the project with enough cash, it could be reached quickly, since Harmony is likely a good starting point), Apache and Google should publicly announce that they stop active Java development, freeze all of their Java-based projects until they get ported to the new platform. Google should deprecate Java in the App Engine and thus forcibly move developers to the "new" Java. This migration should be easy/trivial.

This would of course practically kill Java but the new "Java" platform would become much stronger than Java has ever been because of the following:

• Since it would be distributed under the Apache license, it would be very commercial-friendly and appealing to companies. We can expect every sane company moving to the new platform in the medium term especially because:
  
  
  
  • This platform would be truly open and the stewards (Apache/Google and possibly others) respected and trusted (esp. Apache)
  
  
  • Nobody actually believes that Oracle will be a good steward of Java.
  
  
  • Oracle will want to squeeze every last penny of Java (will hurt Java developers/users) without actual development of the platform. Just like they did with Oracle Forms and Reports.
  
  
  
  


• Due to the open-source nature, packaging and modularity of the new platform, all Linuxes would happily include the new platform and this new "Java" would soon become the primary  development language of Linux projects, completely ousting Mono/.NET on the way. Those Linux projects would run on Windows as well so they would strengthen the migration path from Windows to Linux.


• Strong Linux support would bring a substantial developer base to the platform (the open-source developer crowd).


• Google would officially switch to this platform and the success of Android would help its rise considerably.


• Android would bring a substantial developer base (huge number of Android developers)


• Running Android applications on desktops would become possible which doesn't make sense now but it will soon, since a lot of Android apps will be soon rewritten for tablets and thus become eligible for desktop use.


• The new language should become a primary citizen on the LibreOffice platform. Possibly a basis for every new, larger development in LibreOffice.


• When projects like Maven and Ant get frozen on the old Java platform, developer migration will ensue en-mass to the new "Java".

The new platform would quickly dominate the server-side, where Java is the strongest currently and Linux is on the rise. It would also quickly dominate the mobile space due to Android.

It is possible that the new platform would also become successful on the desktop, at least in the enterprise space where a lot of Java desktop applications are deployed. The Linux desktop would be the first, possibly it would be followed by the Windows desktop.

Java in its current form, under the stewardship of Oracle, is destined to slow decline. Only a radical renewal like this could put it firmly back to the map of relevancy.

Revised specifications for the Notion Ink Adam

As the Adam is approaching its public release, some parts of the specification have changed compared to the originally published spec and there is now some information about the target pricing as well. Of course any of it is subject to change. Some of this information is not even corrected on the official Notion Ink website but was posted on their blog.

The bezel of the tablet has been slightly enlarged (as can be seen on the picture):



There will be four base variants of the Adam:

• PixelQi screen, wi-fi


• PixelQi screen, wi-fi, 3G cellular modem


• Ordinary LCD screen, wi-fi


• Ordinary LCD screen, wi-fi, 3G cellular modem

Both the PixelQi and the ordinary LCD screen will have capacitive, multi-touch interface and 1024x600 resolution, anti-glare coating (matte finish). This is especially useful for reading and outdoor use. PixelQi variant is usable in direct, strong sunlight.

There is no info yet on the HSDPA/HSUPA speeds for the 3G cellular modem.

For internal storage, 16 and 32 GB flash will be selectable.

Common specification elements:

• Nvidia Tegra2 System On Chip operating at 1Ghz (dual-core ARM Cortex-A9)


• 1 GB of RAM (DDR2, 667Mhz)


• WLAN 802.11 b/g/n (previously it was not known whether it will have "n" as well)


• Bluetooth 2.1 EDR with A2DP (for stereo bluetooth headsets)


• External loudspeakers (expected to be good quality for enjoyable video playback), external microphone, headphone and microphone jack


• 3.2 Mpixel swivel camera which will be usable for both taking photos and video calls


• 2 normal size USB ports and 1 mini-USB port


• HDMI output


• microSD card slot


• Docking port


• 3-axis accelerometer


• Ambient light sensor and automatic screen backlight adjustment (this will have a big, positive impact on the battery runtime)


• Manual LCD back-light switch (most useful for the PixelQi variant)


• Standalone GPS chip and antennea (with support for A-GPS quick positioning). The Adam will be capable for navigation without 3G network coverage


• Sound volume keys


• Backside trackpad (this is an interesting part, check the videos on Youtube)


• 24 Wh battery (3-cell configuration). Expected runtime is 15 hours for wifi browsing (recently reported on the blog), 140 hours of listening to audio, more than a week standby


• Operating system is Android Froyo (2.2) with a custom, tablet-enhanced user interface

It is not yet known whether the Adam will have a digital compass (for better navigation and augmented reality apps). It has been asked on the Notion Ink blog comments but no confirmation yet. It would be very much logical to have it in a machine with this hardware level but the long-time omission from the specs indicates otherwise.

Target end-user prices are between $400 and $500 for the 4 variants in the US. Their target is to keep even the fully loaded variant below the price of the entry level iPad.

Availability/release of the Adam is not finalized, but the Early Access Program winners (developers) are expected to have their machines shipped around November 15. Public release should happen soon after in order to make the Adam available for the Christmas shopping season.

Sources:

• Notion Ink Blog


• Notion Ink Company Website

DDR2

My dream: Java SE on Android Linux

Although the Oracle - Google Java lawsuit looks ugly, there is a possibility that something good comes out of it: full Java SE appications running on Android.

That would be an awesome success for Oracle since it is by nature (steward of Java) interested in running Java applications in Android devices. Devices shipping with Android (tablets with dual-core ARM processor and 512Mb to 1 GB of RAM) are powerful enough to run full Java applications, even with Swing. Desktop applications are quite common in the enterprise space and would make Android devices very appealing in this segment. Especially in the tablet form factor.

Due to the overwhelming success of Android, Oracle would gain a lot of possible support contracts for Java SE on Android (support contracts are the ones Oracle is usually after)

Oracle should get over the need for controlling where Java SE can go (it is currently not allowed on phones) and remove these restrictions. Most of them don't make any sense anyway.

Google and Oracle should work together to create a flawless SE JVM for Android (the Linux runtime is probably a good basis for that) and make sure that graphical Java programs (Swing) run nicely and feel native on Android. Sun has made a lot of optimizations for ARM Cortex A9 level processors, that work should not be lost.

Synergies between Java and Android are already very strong, this step would correct Google's original mistake of leaving out SE compatibility of Android (I know the reasons but still I think it was a big mistake nontheless).

The biggest mistake Palm has made with WebOS

Palm's WebOS (a Linux variant) based phones have been out for a while but I haven't had the need to consider them until recently (in the form of my Treo 650 broken down).

My Treo 650 was a real workhorse, containing hundreds of contacts, thousands of calendar entries (I use the calendar actively and like to keep entries for a very long time for reference), lots of todos and memos. As a long time Linux/Ubuntu user, I have synchronized and backed up my Treo with JPilot, which is an excellent Linux application. In the past, I have used several Palm devices and I was always able to migrate my complete PIM database with ease between the old device and the new one.

Now that my Treo seems to be dead, I was considering buying a Palm Pre. Researching the Pre, I soon learned that the old synchronization protocol (Hotsync) doesn't work at all with the Pre and there seems to be no way to correctly synchronize the Pre with my Linux desktop. Since I store relatively sensitive information on the Treo, I would never synchronize my PIM database with a cloud service like Google. Thus, Palm's new Synergy sync methods are practically useless for me.

This problem is not only related to the Linux desktop, Windows users are affected as well but they at least have existing third-party options for synchronizing the Pre with Outlook.

Now, this is a real show-stopper for me and lowers the Pre from a trusted Palm device to the level of the average smartphone in my eyes. Palm seems to have lost an avid user since if my workflow is broken anyway, I might as well switch to Android. Android has a much bigger community than WebOS, so there is a bigger chance that I find a well working syncing solution to the Linux desktop.

It is also ironic that although Palm's new WebOS is a Linux device, Palm has decided to break compatibility with the Linux desktop since the only working way between them was HotSync.

It should have been of paramount importance for Palm to ensure compatibility with its own Palm Desktop software and all of the other desktop software which was communicating with Palm devices over HotSync. Currently, Treo owners don't have an easy way to upgrade to the Pre/Pixi since their PIM databases cannot be easily migrated to the new device the way they are used to. As a fair chunk of Treo users were business people, I am sure, most of them are NOT comfortable with their PIM database stored in the cloud. Palm should understand that cloud storage with Synergy - while a good thing - is NOT a replacement for HotSync in a lot of user scenarios.

I believe that Palm's lower-than-expected sales of the Pre and the Pixi can be amounted to this, incompatibility with the old ways and the well-working syncing solutions and desktop tools. Their established Treo/PDA customer base will simply switch to other phones and leave them. This way they loose all of their inherited advantage with this people.

If they want to save the customer base which is still on PalmOS, they should VERY QUICKLY create the HotSync client for WebOS or create a HotSync Synergy plugin and restore compatibility with the Palm Desktop and all of the other desktop software which are still using Hotsync.

That's what I call Linux mobility: Smart Book from Always Innovating

Always Innovating has recently introduced its latest creation, the Smart Book. See the Slashgear article here and the product page here about this brilliant device.

The Smart Book is an ultra-modular, ultra-mobile computing device, which integrates an IP phone, a tablet and a netbook into one, Linux based machine. Although, there is not enough information (yet) about the exact nature/working of the hardware/software components, the modularity of the device is stunning.

As the basis, you have a MID / IP phone unit which houses a Texas Instruments Cortex-A8 (likely an OMAP3) SOC with a powerful graphics core and 512 Mb of RAM. This is the computing core of the whole set. It has microSD slot for extra storage and a 1500 mAh battery. You may use this for quick email checking and limited web-browsing if you want to carry only a very small device with you.

When the need arises, the MID can be inserted into a tablet "jacket". This provides an 8.9"screen and an extra 6000 mAh battery for the computing core (the IP phone). You can use the tablet for comfortable browsing/email reading/book reading and you can still accept phone calls with a bluetooth headset.

If you need to do some serious typing (or run out of the battery of both the tablet and phone-core), you can dock the tablet into a stand with a keyboard which makes the device a proper netbook/laptop and gives you an extra 12000 (!!!) mAh battery capacity. When this happens, you may switch the computing core to a full Ubuntu Linux from the Android you used on the MID. This is done with a dedicated hardware button (called the AI button).

The battery life is not yet known, but if the battery capacity figures are real, it should be brutal. Some assumptions for the web browsing activity on wifi:

• 3-4 hours for the MID alone (1500 mAh)


• 10-14 hours for the tablet set (1500 + 6000 mAh)


• 20-34 hours for the netbook set (1500 + 6000 + 12000 mAh)

Some other goodies:

• One of the cases (tablet or the stand) can house a USB key so it won't protrude from the device and you can safely ship it, always inserted into the device, removing only when you need to stick it into an other computer.


• The tablet can be used as a secondary display for an arbitrary computer which has a USB port (by DisplayLink technology)


• The MID has an HDMI out so it can directly connect to a TV


• You get a USB-HDMI converter in the pack which can be used independently (e.g. connecting an arbitrary computer with no HDMI out (only USB) to a TV). This also uses DisplayLink at its heart. The converter unit can be inserted into the dock (like the USBkey) so you will not loose it.


• The keyboard dock can be used as a bluetooth keyboard with any arbitrary computer, not only with the tablet/MID combo.

The modular sales method is also well thought-out. You don't need to buy the whole device in one go for $549. You can buy it one-by-one, $199 a piece.

My grievances with the machine:

1) The seeming lack of computing power. I would like to have at least dual-core Cortex-A9 SOC with 1Gb of RAM. I perfectly understand the design reasons leading to the single computing core solution (only this can result in an affordable price for the whole system) but I still think that the OMAP3 core is not enough for netbook-strength applications like OpenOffice and Firefox and the 512Mb of RAM is very much on the borderline for a Ubuntu Gnome desktop. If this machine had some Tegra2-level processing guts and more memory, I would shout "Ipad killer" and try to register a pre-order entry (which is already available, by the way).

2) The MID should be a real mobile phone with a sufficiently powerful HSPA modem, phone buttons and it should run a phone oriented GUI of Android. This would make the whole idea a one-stop solution for most of the mobile computing needs of the average people (including myself). I hope AI will soon create a version which has a real phone as the core of the Smart Book set.

That said, I believe the concept is brilliant and Always Innovating may very well have created a good implementation which will be successful on the market.

Official Linux development kit for Tegra2

It's been a while since I reported that Nvidia would support Linux on the Tegra2 development board. At that time, "support" meant an internal, non-public OS image for Nvidia developers and a promise  for an official, public Linux Development Kit (LDK) to be released "soon". Unfortunately, things were only crawling along since then so some of the prospective Tegra2 developers got quite frustrated with the lack of an official LDK for this advanced ARM hardware.

Finally, Nvidia developers caught up with the demand and released the first version of the official LDK dubbed as Linux for Tegra (L4T). The announcements on the Tegra2 developer forums is here.

Now, we can hope that this development kit can become the basis of targeted Linux distributions for the upcoming Tegra2 based machines such as the Notion Ink Adam and the Boxee Box.

I, for one, will only buy a Tegra2 tablet or smartbook if there is realistic chance that I will see a well working, full-Linux distro on it sometime soon. I may use Android on them for a while but I certainly think that such powerful hardware demands a proper, full-Linux operating system on it. I will be happy to use MeeGo, Ubuntu Unity or some other touch-oriented desktop-GUI and its widgets but absolutely expect to run OpenOffice, Firefox and other powerful apps when I attach a keyboard to the machine.

Toshiba AC100 smartbook: with Android but why?

The AC100 smartbook, recently announced by Toshiba, has some intriguing features, worth to blog about. First of all, it is built around Nvidia's Tegra2 system-on-chip (SOC). The Tegra2 is a powerful, ARM SOC with two generic application processing cores and integrated media cores (AV decoding/encoding...etc). The AC100 is the most promising netbook form-factor machine with Tegra2 to date. (Of course there are a lot of Tegra2 based systems announced, but those are mostly tablets). Smartbooks already on the market (HP Airlife, Sharp Netwalker), suffer from lack of performance (due to a combination of underpowered, single-core, Cortex A8-level SOCs and/or slow RAM) and are not considered as breakthrough products (at least not in the blogosphere).

The AC100 has a chance to be a successful product in the netbook/smartbook category. Although the hardware has some weaknesses (only 512Mb of RAM instead of at least 1Gb, only one USB port, very small resolution LCD), it has a solid brand name written on it, and the Nvidia foundations are appealing.

I expect the factory installed Android 2.1 perform acceptably but I don't think it is the ideal OS for this device. Android's touch oriented GUI won't shine on the AC100 simply because the machine lacks a touch-screen and Android's software selection is simply no match for this hardware.

Laptop-like smartbooks with keyboards (like the AC100) are much better served with a full-desktop Linux due to the fact, that on these devices, buyers will expect full-fledged applications like OpenOffice, Thunderbird, Firefox…etc. Android would be very limiting for the use cases expected from a netbook/smartbook (editing complex text documents, spreadsheets, using a full-fledged browser, email client…etc). Tegra2 with 1Gb of fast RAM could run OpenOffice and other desktop software with good performance. Instead, it will be reduced to run mini, Android versions of the real stuff (what is available for Android instead of OO and such). I believe, at this point, Android is much more suitable for content consumption, than content creation. In contrast, the AC100 hardware is definitely suitable for the latter and many potential buyers will find Android as insufficient for their purposes.

I just hope that Nvidia & Toshiba get their act together and quickly release an Ubuntu variant for Tegra2 based systems because I am afraid the OS part of their AC100 offering is much weaker than the hardware. The Android 2.1 can remain the factory default but the easy install option of a solid, full-desktop OS should be provided (Ubuntu/ARM is just that). I would also suggest increasing the amount of RAM and the USB ports in order to make the product directly comparable to Atom netbooks (and not be ashamed after the comparison). With these improvements, Toshiba could create a very strong contender for the business of those who are waiting for a powerful smartbook or tablet and not willing to compromise with Apple's offering.

Are smartbooks and Linux meant for each other?

Smartbooks are an upcoming mobile computing device category built around ARM's Cortex A8 and A9 line of processors. These devices are awaited with great anticipation because they promise a mixture between smartphone features (ultra-portable, 3G connected, always-on) and the functionality of netbooks/laptops (>9" screen, seamless web browsing, laptop-like computing performance...etc) at a price point lower than that of current netbooks (sub-$300). Some smartbooks will arrive in the tablet form factor, some of them will come in the more traditional laptop form factor. All of them are expected to be comparable to netbooks in processing power (see this and this).

It is an intriguing question whether smartbooks will widen Linux adoption and erode the often criticised monopoly of Windows on pc-like computing devices.

Since the desktop line of Windows currently doesn't run on ARM processors, we can exclude XP/Vista/7 from the list of likely contenders as smartbook operating systems. Windows 7 successors are currently not planned to be ported to ARM and even that wouldn't be a complete solution since Windows applications will have to be ported as well (a very wide, close-sourced ecosystem).

Microsoft has Windows CE for ARM processors. Windows CE has already been deployed several smartbook-like devices (e.g. the original Psion Netbook) so it is definitely a contender in this market. However, WinCE 6.5 currently doesn't support multiple or multi-core processors  and more than 512Mb of RAM so advanced ARM SOCs like the Tegra2 would be very much limited by this OS. Solving multi-processor support will require significant investment from Microsoft. Incompatibility with the desktop line of Windows is also a severe limiting factor for WinCE. WinCE devices cannot be sold on the appeal of general Windows-compatibility, the user will not be able to install Windows applications onto the device.

Linux on the other hand has a very good technical background on ARM. It has no limitations for processing cores and operating memory and has targeted distributions for this architecture. Android is an outstanding example but several well-known distributions - like Ubuntu - have ARM ports in addition to their x86 base edition. Also, due to the fact that most of the Linux applications are open-source, they are at least possible to port, so we can expect the full usual complement of desktop Linux applications to show up on an ARM Linux distribution when the need becomes visible for them.

Technical factors aside, there is always the argument for Linux: being free . This may be important with smartbooks due to the very low targeted price point which doesn't tolerate even moderate OS licensing fees (like $50/unit). So unless Microsoft gives Windows CE for practically free, Linux has the advantage here.

Since Windows CE has practically no advantages over Linux on ARM (in fact quite the opposite), Linux has a fairly good chance to be deployed on smartbooks as the primary operating system shipping with the device. Now, we can get into specifics. What kind of Linux and what kind of GUI?

Google's Android is a very special Linux distribution. It's touch-oriented GUI is simple and usable but it doesn't run X-Windows so lacks the usual full-fledged Linux applications (Android applications are specifically written for the Dalvik virtual machine and its APIs in Java.) With this in mind, and considering the current frenzy around Android, I expect it to be deployed heavily on smartbook tablets. This form-factor is ideal for use cases in which full-fledged desktop applications are not necessary (e.g.: a web tablet with media player capabilities). More advanced Linux users will likely be able to install a full desktop Linux onto their tablets but the average consumer will be satisfied with Android.

However, laptop-like smartbooks with keyboards are better served with a full-desktop Linux like Ubuntu due to the fact, that on these devices, buyers will expect full-fledged applications like OpenOffice, Thunderbird, Firefox...etc. Android would be very limiting for the use cases expected from a netbook/smartbook (editing complex text documents, spreadsheets, using a full-fledged browser, email client...etc). I believe, the exact GUI environment is not really important for this kind of smartbooks although some netbook specific desktop environments (like Ubuntu Netbook Remix and Moblin) may be more efficient for smartbook models with low-resolution screens (below 1024x768).

My conclusion is that every kind of smartbook device can be put to its full potential with a properly customized Linux variant. Manufacturers seem to be aware of this since most of the already announced products are known to ship with Android (e.g.: Notion Ink Adam) or hinted to ship with some kind of Linux (e.g.: Lenovo Skylight).

Is the iPad good for Linux?

Regardless of how severe limitations Apple imposes on the iPad, we can expect it to be reasonably successful. I don't think it will duplicate the success of the iPhone but due to Apple's strong marketing and its own technical merits, it will sell in significant numbers.

How will this affect Linux and the upcoming tablets based on it?

When I say Linux, I mean Google's Android and Chrome operating systems as well because they are all based on Linux.

I believe the iPad will have a positive effect on Linux adoption. The bigger its success will be, the bigger help it will provide to Linux. Now, I agree that this sounds controversial first, because the iPad runs Apple's own iPhone OS which is a competitor to Linux but the logic gets more obvious if we think about the biggest hurdle for Linux adoption: compatibility with Windows.

When buying computer-like devices, people still expect compatibility with Windows and windows applications. Microsoft's monopoly of the desktop makes it hard for alternative OS-es to make headway. The iPhone made a dent in this cornerstone because it proved that it can serve as a viable, ultra-mobile internet device, a role played by, overwhelmingly, Windows laptops before. The iPhone created a huge ecosystem of software developers/publishers completely independent from Microsoft and Windows. The iPad will continue this trend and will highlight this market in a much more meaningful manner.

People buying the iPad will be aware that their device will never run Windows programs yet they will buy it anyway. Their example will further destroy the myth that a computer needs Windows to serve useful purposes. The iPad, due to its size, is more of a "computer" in the eyes of the people than an iPhone, regardless of the technical similarities.

After the iPad successfully lowers resistance to non-Windows computing devices, Linux will have a much better chance of competing in the mobile computing market and, eventually, on the desktop.

Apple's iPad vs Notion Ink's Adam tablet with Ubuntu: battle of two worlds

We can safely say that the Apple iPad is received with mixed feelings by the IT-savvy community. The main problem is that the tablet is just not as revolutionary as many expected it would be. It keeps many of the limitations of the iPhone (no multitasking, tightly controlled app-store) and doesn't provide impressive new features which could keep the balance.

Let's compare this tablet to one of the more promising Tegra 2 tablets on the way to the market: the Notion Ink Adam. Admittedly, the Adam is not on the market yet, while the iPad is quite sure gets there soon. Nevertheless, we give the benefit of the doubt to Notion Ink (especially, considering how badly Nvidia wants to start the Tegra 2 device line). In my comparison, the Adam runs Ubuntu Linux with the Mobile Edition which has a touch oriented user interface. The first version of the Adam is expected to come with Android but since Nvidia officially supports Ubuntu on the Tegra 2, we can expect a fully working Ubuntu edition on the Adam soon enough. Moreover, for such powerful hardware as the Adam, even Android seems limited to me.

Screen technology and diplay features


Both the iPad and the Adam have ~10" LCD displays with capacitive touchscreen technology. However, the Adam features PixelQi technology which means lower power consumption, direct sunlight readability and higher contrast when switched to BW mode for reading. The Adam will have a hardware switch for easy mode-changing (BW/low-power colour/full colour) which will help lowering the power consuption (like a wifi or 3G radio shut-off switch). The iPad doesn't seem to have any hw switch, not even one for adjusting the brightness of the screen (meaning: unless there is an ultra-easy touch gesture for it, nobody will adjust the brigthness for ambient light conditions). The iPad specs page lists an ambient light sensor, so the OS may be able to automatically turn-down the backlight when not needed but this won't save you as much as the power saving modes of the PixelQi screen. All-in-all, the screen of the Adam seems to be more versatile and power efficient.

Processing power

The custom Apple A4 processor of the iPad runs at 1Ghz and is a single-core ARM Cortex A9 solution. The Tegra 2 of the Adam features 2 Cortex A9 cores running at 1 Ghz. Due to the exact same technology platform, I expect the Adam almost two times as powerful as the iPad and this should be very much noticable in the more important applications (e.g. web-browser). The iPad has the stock ARM Mali 50 graphics core, while the Tegra 2 includes a Geforce 9 level graphics core. Although, I am not very familiar with the capabilities of these cores, I expect the Nvidia core to be more powerful since this is where Nvidia has strong competency. Some say the Mali core is not even in the same league as the Tegra 2 graphics core but this remains to be seen. (Disclaimer: it is possible that current reports about the inclusion of the Mali are inaccurate and the iPad uses a PowerVR graphics core like the iPhone).

GUI/desktop enviroment

The iPad runs the GUI environment of the iPhone OS (an OS X derivative), while the Adam runs Ubuntu Mobile (at least in my comparison). The Adam may not support multitouch in the short term but already has support for gestures (e.g: a swipe for moving to the next image in the image browser). The iPad supports multitouch and a wide array of gestures. I expect the iPad GUI easier to use and more refined (at least for the time being, since Ubuntu Mobile is quite a young project).

The "desktop" is easy to use in both environment, very similar application startup and indicators. The Ubuntu OS will run several applications in parallel while you will be able to use only one app ata time on the iPad. (see about  this later)

Web Browsing


The iPad doesn't run Flash but said to render normal webpages snappily in its custom Safari browser. Youtube is supported just like on the iPhone but no Flash games and no Java applets in webpages (see about interpreters later in the application section).

The Adam will run full editions of Firefox/Chrome/Opera and expected to have an optimized Flash version (Flash 10.1 coming soon) so it will be good for running web-pages with video streaming and Flash games. Java applets (rare nowadays) will work too.

Playing video / Listening to music

The iPad has no HDMI output (has a simple VGA output, max res: 1024x768) and is rated for decoding 720p videos. This is a far cry from the 3 simultanious 1080p streams of the Tegra 2 and built-in HDMI port of the Adam. The Tegra 2/ Adam offering is far more powerful and makes the Adam a viable HTPC if you want to play the movies from your tablet onto your HDTV screen.

Both have a 3.5 mm jack and speakers so hw-wise, listening to music should not be a problem. Ubuntu has powerful music player applications which are on par with iTunes of the iPhone/iPad.

Playing games

The Geforce graphics core of the Tegra 2 in the Adam will be quite sufficient to play 3D games. The performance of the Mali 50 is not widely known at this point but is not expected to be worse than the graphics core in the iPhone 3GS so it is likely able to run 3G games like the demo based on the Unreal engine. I expect the Tegra 2 graphics core of the Adam  more powerful.

Camera / video chat / VOIP


The iPad doesn't have a built-in camera which is a glaring omission. The Adam will have a 3Mp built-in camera, which is more than enough for Skype videophoning. Moreover, the Tegra 2 supports real-time hardware encoding of 1080p streams to H264 so, properly written video-chat applications should work extremely well on the Adam. Ubuntu should run any Linux VOIP app compiled for ARM. I expect Skype and other open/closed source software work well on the Adam in the short-medium term.

Apple has recently lifted the restrictions on Skype and other VOIP apps in the iPhone app catalog so the iPad will have the voice part OK but you will need an external cam for video chats and currently there is no information on the video encoding capabilities of Apple's A4 SOC.

Battery runtime

The iPad is rated for 10hrs of use (wifi browsing). The Adam is specified to have 16 hours of wifi browsing. The Adam looks like the winner here but the iPad's 10-hour runtime is also quite good.

Ebook reading

The Adam's PixelQi screen supports this activity much better especially in sunlit places. Ubuntu runs FBReader (my favourite ebook reader software) and has viewers for every kind of complex-document formats (most of them will be displayed in Evince, in case of Ubuntu). The iPad has a new reader application which is too early to write about but expected to be an intuitive reader-app (if the track record of Apple is any indication).

Navigation

Both devices include GPS units, so navigation software should be available for both. Google Navigation will certainly run on the Adam, I just hope it doesn't get blocked from the iPad app-store.

Other applications, Multitasking


While the iPhone has a huge selection of applications in Apple's app-store, most of them will have to be tailored for the iPad for full potential. This will surely happen if the iPad becomes successful but it may happen slowly if the device proves to be less than a clear success. Application-wise, I expect the Apple iPad to be as closed as the iPhone, so you will be able to install only Apple-approved applications from the official app-store.

Ubuntu on the Adam can run any full-desktop or command line Linux/ARM software from the Ubuntu ARM repositories. This is a huge selection of software and includes powerful applications like OpenOffice, GIMP and others. These may not be optimized for the touchscreen interface but the Adam's backside trackpad can help using them in tablet mode and in docked mode you will be able to use a USB mouse and keyboard just like with a netbook. Moreover, Ubuntu is completely free of limitations so you will be able install whatever software you want.

The iPad currently has multitasking disabled so you can run only one application at a time. The Adam has the full multitasking of Linux. The Adam's dual-core hardware should run several applications efficiently in parallel. A good use-case for this: a Bittorrent download running on your Adam while reading an ebook (I do this quite often on my OLPC XO-1).

Apple doesn't allow applications running in interpreters so you will never run a Flash/Java/Python/.Net-Mono application on the iPad although the hardware is sufficient for them. The Adam's Ubuntu will run any of those applications without any restrictions. Flash 10.1 is expected to be optimized for ARM SOCs and Java 6 has an optimized version for the Cortex A9 processors so the Adam should run apps based on these technologies well. Desktop and Webstarted Java clients are quite common in the enterprise IT world so the Adam may get some love from there.

It is not yet known how much RAM the iPad or the Adam has, but based on the Tegra 2 development board, the Adam will have at least 1 Gb of RAM which is quite sufficient for running even several complex applications in parallel.

Storage

The Adam will have expandable storage by a microSD slot, while the iPad seems to have no storage expansion slot at all.

Price

The cheapest version of the iPad is announced for $499 in the US. The Adam is expected to carry a sub-$400 pricetag ($320 is a current estimate).

Conclusion

The iPad hardware seems to be seriously lacking when compared to the Adam's Tegra 2 foundations, PixelQi screen, trackpad and other features.

Application-wise, the playground is more leveled but for Linux-savvy people the choice is a no-brainer. The iPad will certainly appeal to people who want devices which "just work" and accept the serious, artificial limitations imposed on their device.

Reference:

iPad specifications  by Apple

Ubuntu Mobile Edition

Tegra 2 supports Ubuntu Linux

According to this faq-like post on the official Nvidia Tegra developer site, Ubuntu Linux is supported as an operating system for Tegra 2 based devices.

This is extremely important for both Nvidia and Linux in general since a lot of IT-savvy people find Android insufficient for the netbook form factor and ask for a "real" Linux on these very promising devices.

I tend to agree with this view primarily because Tegra 2 @1Ghz is a powerful SOC for a smartbook/netbook/tablet which can run a full desktop Linux with decent speed. I see no reason to limit Tegra 2 based systems to inferior operating systems like Android or Windows CE (bah). As an example, Windows CE 6.0 supports only 512Mb RAM and only one processor. Since the Tegra 2 has two Cortex A9 cores,Windows CE will not be able to utilize both. Android has no X-Windows on it so it cannot run normal Linux software, only software directly written for Android. In contrast, Ubuntu for ARM supports multiple processors, any reasonable amount of RAM and most of the popular Linux software can be installed readily  from the Ubuntu ARM repositories, and even the more obscure sw likely requires only a recompile.

A simple Gnome desktop or Ubuntu's Netbook Remix user interface may not be perfect for a touchscreen operated tablet but is very useable with the traditional laptop form factor. Some of the Tegra 2 tablets will add a pointer device as well, in addition to the touchscreen (like the Notion Ink Adam) so these machines will be easy to use with a customized, full Linux desktop.

Perspective:

The list of currently known Tegra 2 tablets/smartbooks.

Some performance comparisons between Cortex A9 (like the Tegra2) and Intel's Atom:

• Cortex A9 dual-core vs Atom demo side-by-side


• ARM Cortex A9 vs Intel Atom N450 Pine Trail

Nvidia leading the smartbook revolution?

Seeing the CES product announcements poouring in, one thing stands out clearly: a boatload of new tablets, media devices and smartbooks are based on Nvidia's new Tegra 2 system-on-chip (SOC).

The most notable ones:

• The Boxee Box media player


• The MSI 10" Android tablet


• The Compal Android tablet


• The ICD Ultra and Vega tablets


• Mobinnova Beam WinCE smartbook


• Notion Ink Adam Android tablet


• Audi future car navigation system


• ASUS Eee Pad tablet


• Pegatron Neo smartbook


• ViewSonic VTablet 101

The flood of Tegra2 products doesn't come to me as a surprise since the technical capabilities of the SOC has been known for a while and is considered impressive. The chip contains 2 ARM Cortex A9 cores running at maximum 1Ghz and other cores for graphics, audio and HD video encoding/decoding.

While most of the currently popular ARM based devices contain Cortex A8 level cores, Nvidia seems to be ahead of others in the ARM ecosystem by quickly designing and implementing a dual core A9 solution.

Device designers/manufacturers seem to be appreciating Nvidia's efforts judging by the number of devices announced for the platform.

Intel may have made a big mistake by alienating Nvidia from the Atom architecture by denying information about the hw interfaces. Although, Ion 2 has been announced, Nvidia's focus is clearly on Tegra now and that may result in some very serious competiotion to Intel's Atom.

Cortex A9 dual-core vs Atom demo side-by-side

Earlier, I wrote about the relative performance of Intel's Atom and the upcoming smartbook processors based on ARM's Cortex A9  here.

Continuing this line, I have found a demonstration video which shows a 1.6 Ghz Atom (likely the 270) and a 500Mhz Cortex A9 development board side by side. Both of the machines run at the same screen resolution, same memory and same operating system (looks like a stock Ubuntu with Gnome).

The video demonstrates web browsing performance with typical websites. The Cortex A9 board seems a little bit slower but not significantly, and at still a perfectly acceptable speed.

Now, the most astounding part is, that the A9 board runs only at 500 Mhz which means that its performance is throttled back for ultra-low power consumption. Cortex A8 level SOCs - the current generation - are known to run at 1 Ghz (Snapdragon, OMAP3, Armada) and the Cortex A9 Sparrow demo chip runs at 2Ghz (produced on the 28nm GlobalFoundries process).

This means that a completely doable Cortex A9 at 1.5 Ghz would have about 3 times the performance of the demo 500Mhz development board and still consume much-much less than the Atom. It would definitely leave the Atom 270 and N450 in the dust.

Moreover, the development board had no graphics accelerator at all, while finalized OEM SOCs will definitely have GPUs built-in (for example the Tegra 2 will include a Geforce GPU coupled with the two A9 cores).

The Cortex A9 at 500 Mhz is an ultra-low-power configuration and it is safe to say that it would take 1/10 - 1/5 of the consumption of the Atom which means much-much better battery runtimes.

In theory, the 1.6 Ghz Atom puts out ~4000 DMIPS and the dual-core, 500 Mhz A9 puts out only 2500 DMIPS raw power. This means that the A9 also has an architectural advantage somewhere. This may be the two real cores of the A9 versus the one-core-with-hyperthreading of the Atom. Since web browsers are by nature heavily multithreaded, the dual-A9 may support this type of application much better.

I can't wait to see some prototype A9 devices displayed at CES.

Freescale 7" smartbook tablet design under $200

[caption id="attachment_51" align="alignnone" width="412" caption="freescale-tablet"][/caption]

Freescale has come up with a tablet reference design which they expect to be selling for under $200. It is not entirely clear whether they meant end-user prices or OEM production prices but $200 for a production price would be way too much for a Cortex-A8 category tablet, so I assume they meant end-user prices.

What is interesting about this design, that they have created a special, simplified user interface, which may be appealing for the target audience.

The operating system is a Debian derivative.

This machine would be ideal as an ultra mobile browsing/emailing, video/music playing device at home or when traveling.

The 7" screen may be too small for some but it definitely makes the machine more portable.

Via Endgadget

More information here.

ARM Cortex A9 vs Intel Atom N450 Pine Trail

While I am eagerly waiting for the smartbook product introductions at 2010 CES, I am wondering what kind of performance we can expect from those upcoming ARM based tablets and netbooks. Although some of the smartbooks will be based on Cortex A8 technology, I believe only the more performant, dual-core Cortex A9 system-on-chip (SOC) designs will be really successful (see this about the A8).

Since newer Pine Trail Atom netbooks are already getting fairly good battery runtimes, the question is unavoidable for the smartbooks: will we get at least similar performance to the Atom based netbooks? New Intel based netbooks will mostly use the netbook-oriented Atom N450 chip (Pine View), so I will try to draw a comparison between this chip and the known characteristics of A9 SOCs.

Since it is extremely hard to come by good comparative data between ARM and Atom, partly because Cortex A9 based systems are not yet available for the public, this post is highly speculative and by no means should serve as the basis for purchasing your next smartbook/netbook.

By ARM's specifications, the Cortex A9 core has an approximate raw performance of 2.5 DMIPS/MHz. It can run at 2Ghz when produced on the 28nm GlobalFoundries process. This is 5000 DMIPS/core with an expected 10000 DMIPS for a dual core setup (MP CORE version).

Since it is more likely that the first A9 SOCs will be manufactured with a 40nm process, we only calculate with a 1.5 Ghz top frequency which would yield about 7500 DMIPS.

Now, performance wise. the new N450 is only marginally better that the earlier Atom chips (5-10%, see this Anandtech article) and several discussions report that the older Atoms get 2.5 DMIPS/Mhz, a 1.6 Ghz Atom yields about  4000 DMIPS (one of the discussions). Pine View Atoms for netbooks (N450 descendants) are not planned to be made dual-core in the near future so we calculate with only one core.

I am aware that this is not a perfect comparison since DMIPS values between different architectures are not 100% comparable, but these results would mean an 80% advantage in raw power for the dual-A9.

Some more considerations:

All recent ARM chips include hardware decoders for H264 video while the N450/NM10 has no such capability. This means either choppy HD video from Youtube or an external H264 decoder chip (like the Broadcomm one or an Nvidia Ion like extension). Certain Cortex A9 SOCs promise multiple 1080p stream decoding in parallel (like the Tegra 2) without loading the general purpose ARM core. Moreover, in the case of the N450, the maximum output on hdmi is restricted to 1366x768 (1440x1050 for the analog vga out). So you can forget about viewing HD videos with your Atom netbook even if you have an external, HD monitor or TV.

Flash hardware acceleration is coming (with Flash 10.1)  to all ARM machines with H264 decoders but in case of the N450 alone, there is nothing to accelerate with. So you better check whether your Atom netbook has the external video decoder or you will never watch streamed hd videos with decent speed. It is fully possible that Nvidia won't produce a new ION chipset for the new Atoms since Intel denied access to the relevant hw interfaces. Instead, Nvidia will work even harder on Tegra 2.

Architecture wise: the new Pine View Atom remains in-order architecture, produced on 45nm while the Cortex A9 is out-of-order core (more modern, inherently more powerful than the Atom) with easy implementation on the TSMC 40nm process and the GlobalFoundries 28nm process.

The n450 SOC and the NM10 companion chip(set) still works in a 6.5w TDP while the dual-A9 SOCs are expected to work in a 2W TDP. This is massive difference and makes it likely that the same battery will last much longer with an A9 smartbook than with an N450 netbook. The N450 doesn't need active cooling anymore (this is good news) so the new machines will not have fans but the TDP values above indicate that Atom netbooks will likely be hotter than A9 based smartbooks especially in continued use.

The third generation Atoms - which could improve the situation - will come only in 2012, seriously late compared to A9 based chips (1Q 2010).

Conclusion:

It very much seems that dual core Cortex A9 SOCs will be at-least on-par with the Pine View N450 Atom, performance wise, and possibly overpower them by 50-80% in raw processing power. Graphics performance, end-user price and battery runtimes are also expected to be much better for the A9 based machines.

Unless, Intel comes out with much more powerful Atom designs for netbooks, ARM Cortex A9 based smartbook products may severely cut into Atom netbook sales. X86 compatibility is less of a factor in this segment, so consumers may decide based on perceived performance, battery runtime in which A9 smartbooks seem to have the advantage.